Spirit

"All things die, even us who have powers beyond imagination. When we go, all that will be left behind is our memories, and even those will fade. So, I feel it's my job to protect and nourish the memories that remain past the veil. Especially of the distant family I never got to meet."

-- Rich ʔaləšək, Dreamspeakers

Spirit is the Sphere of what lies past the Veil. Also known as the Gauntlet by other Awakened, the Veil is what separates the physical world from the various ephemeral planes that lie beyond, including The Umbra. Spirit Mages are those capable of sensing and traversing into that chaotic space as well as being able to work with and communicate with the various Spirits past that border.
It's important to note that Spirits as an umbrella category can be divided into three more specific groups. You have:

• Lingering Souls: the standard ghosts and Shadows, either of people or animals, who have their consciousness intact even if their memories aren't all there
• Conceptual Manifestations: these are ephemeral Patterns that have formed to represent some aspect of the natural or unnatural world such as primal elements or entire cities on a conceptual level. They are conscious beings, but may or may not have the best sense of reason
• Umbral Impulses: these creatures are not conscious entities, but are instead manifestations of volatile and chaotic forces within the Umbra made of pure Quintessence. They sometimes manifest as a form of Paradox backlash, but mainly happen for no real reason at all, although spirits of the former two categories can be damaged and degraded into spirits like these over time. These beings are not conscious and instead work off of an energetic instinct.

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Planetary Alignment

Each of the Nine Spheres are associated with a Planet (technically). As the world of spirits is a part of a great beyond, so too does it map to a planet far in the distance whose blue hue mirrors the light of wide skies or oceans, being the planet Uranus. The Realm of Spirit within the Umbral plane isn't easy to get to, but is well used by many Mages, as it gives them a chance to speak with their own internal Avatar or other essential Spirits.

Effect

Much like Prime, Spirit as a Sphere is rather focused in its subject, as it is based in the interaction and control with spirits and spiritual veils, but given the myriad of spirits that exist of the three types mentioned above, that one focus gives them a breadth of options. When it comes to the average limits of their powers, we can still rely on our handy-dandy five-level system, even if the last few spheres got a bit loosey-goosey with it.

• Entry Level: As their power in the Sphere first awakens, the Spirit Mage will find themselves able to look past the veil into the Umbra, the world of Spirits, and analyze the strength of the veil in their area
• Training Level: As their power increases, the Spirit Mage is able to interact with spirit world without crossing over to that side and can also control the density of the Veil to small extents
• Intermediate Level: As they start to come into their own, the Spirit Mage will be able to harness enough power to create temporary tears in the veil and step through them to directly enter the world of Spirits, and has grown strong enough to get their attention or harm them should the need arise
• Advanced Level: As their skill continues to grow, the Spirit Mage is able to more permenantly cut or mend the Veil, allowing more people than just themselves to come through, and can fully command spirits to a greater level
• Expert Level: At this final level before a great divide, the Spirit Mage is able to shape the essence of the spiritual worlds, cross the barrier between different layers of the Umbra, and even attack not just ghosts but a mages connection with their Avatar, but the last is a mighty awful thing to do

Side/Secondary Effects

Since spirits and other ephemeral beings aren't usually able to be seen by Sleepers, there is considerably less risk of invoking Vulgar Magick. Of course, many ghosts were Sleepers once, and the Umbra is still part of reality, so a Spirit Mage has to be careful to avoid tampering with the veil or spirits too much in order to avoid Paradox. Otherwise, they might find themselves rent free from their body, or shunted to their own corner of Umbra with little ability to escape.
For passive changes, a Spirit Mage often gets caught up in speaking and intereacting with that spiritual side of reality, often seemingly talking to nothing and reacting to invisible things.

Manifestation

Spirit Magic in an aura sense tends to be colored green or gold, with Black accompanying nastier or more damaging effects. Visually it also takes on a ripping and parting effect most of the time, or in cases of binding and restructuring, like chains coming from the Mage to their target.

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Related Organizations

• Dreamspeakers
• The Void Engineers

Other Spirit Focused Organizations:

While the Dreamspeakers have had an...interesting relationship with the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions, they have always been the representatives of Spirit among the Tradition Mages. However, they aren't the only experts on the Umbra around:

• The Void Engineers, one of the Technocracy's five Conventions, traverse the realm of Spirit as much as they traverse the realm of space, referring to the sphere as Dimensional Science
•  Jnani: A branch of The Akashayana that focus on spiritual meditation
• Wu Lung - Dragon School: Another branch of the Akashayana who work often with divine citizens of the Umbra, and take great pride in that
• The Chevra Kedisha: A primarily Jewish faction in The Celestial Chorus that work to help ghosts move on to the afterlife
• The Sisters of Gabrielle: Another branch of the Celestial Chorus who fights against demons and malific entities from the Umbra
• Kiss of Astarte: A faction of the Cult of Ecstasy, specifically a faction of the Dionysian Fellowship of Pan, who focus on healing and retribution